Rejoice | Part 8 | Philippians 3:1-11 | Count All Things But Loss
We’re there in Philippians chapter number three and of course on Sunday mornings we’ve been going through this series called rejoice. It really is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Philippians. I don’t do it a lot on Sunday mornings. Usually this is more something we do on a Wednesday night where we go verse by verse, chapter by chapter through a book. But every once in a while it’s good to change things up a little bit. And of course we’re doing that on Wednesday nights through the book of Job. And we find ourselves here in Philippians chapter number three as we’ve been making our way through this book. As I’ve told you, this book is really a book about joy. The word joy is found throughout the book and the word rejoice is found throughout the book. It’s a book about joy and it’s a book about Jesus and it’s really a book about the joy that can be found in Jesus. And I want to point out to you that there are some very specific things that the Apostle Paul begins to delve into in this chapter.
By way of introduction, let me points out some basic things as reminders. In verse 1 he says “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.”. And the Apostle Paul is about to expound on some things that he’s already taught them, some things that he’s already explained to them. And he gives this little disclaimer. He says “…To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.”.
One thing you’ll notice in Paul’s letters is that he often repeats himself. A lot of the things he says to the Church of Ephesus is the same things he says to the Church of Colosse. He preaches a lot of similar themes. Philippians 3:1 “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.”. You know one of our jobs as preachers, as pastors or as men of God is to remind people. It’s not only to teach people but it’s to remind people the things that they’ve already been taught.
In 1st Timothy 4 we have Paul teaching Timothy. Timothy is a young preacher that he’s training for the ministry or helping in the ministry. Notice what Paul tells Timothy. 1st Timothy 4:6 “6 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.”. Our job as good teachers are to be repetitive sometimes. Now I don’t mean that in the same sermon we just repeat ourselves over and over again. I think it’s good to review things. We should review things by putting it in different ways, using different illustrations, different thoughts. But as you come to a Church like Verity Baptist Church over the years, you’ll find that you may learn some new things as we travel through the books of the Bible. But a lot of times you’re just being reminded of the same things. As Christians need to be reminded of the things that we already know. We need to be reminded that we’re supposed to go soul winning. We need to be reminded that you’re supposed to be reading your Bible. We need to be reminded about living a separated life. There are some things that it is our job to just remind people of. “6 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.”
I often joke with guys that I’m training in teaching and preaching and it’s this idea that our job is to put a new flavor on an old truth. And of course I’m not talking about bringing in worldliness or anything like that. But it is our job to take this eternal word of God and to try to dress it up as we preach, try to dress it up in a way that is new or that is different. That’s why I like to preach these sermon series. And we’ll go through a series and look at things through a certain lens. You say why? Because my job is to remind you of the same things over and over and over again. I often joke with guys and I say “Look, David always kills goliath. Jesus always resurrects from the grave. Joseph always gets promoted.”. And when you read the Bible, the same things happen over and over again. But our job is to teach them and preach them in such a way that it’s new and it’s relevant. Our job is to help people to remember. If “6 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.”. 1st Peter 2:12 “12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.”. See, it’s our job to put you in remembrance, to write the same things to you. “to me indeed is not grievous but for you it is safe”.
One of the reasons that we must put people in remembrance of things is because a growing Church is always in transition. We always have newer people coming, new converts and some of the things that you are aware of they may not be. Don’t ever look down on a sermon because you already know some of those things. First of all, every time the word of God is open, you can learn something new. But even if you already know everything (which I doubt you do) it’s good to be reminded. It’s good to be put in remembrance. It’s good to be reminded of the things that we are learning. The Bible says despise not prophesying. We should never despise the preaching of the word of God. We should never think that we don’t need what is being preached. Every time the Bible is open, you need it. Every time the word of God is open, you need it. By the way, this is one of the reasons why in person Church services are better than watching online. You say why? When watching online, you can just scroll and pick whatever sermons you like. You say “Well what’s wrong with that?”. Oftentimes the sermons you like are not the sermons you need. And there’s something about showing up to Church on a Sunday morning, showing up to Church on Sunday night, showing up to Church on a Wednesday night where you can’t put the preacher on pause. You can’t hit an x and make him go away. When he gets up and preaches the word of God, it may not be what you like but it may be what you need. So it is our job to put you in remembrance.
Paul said “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. 2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.”. Now I’m going to come back to this verse and really develop it and break it down in a different sermon in a couple of weeks. I’m not going to do it this morning. But I do want to just show you that the Apostle Paul here begins to talk about the enemies of the cross of Christ. He talks about different enemies that we should be aware of or beware of. He says “2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers,”. Those are words that represent different things. Then he says this “beware of the concision.”. The word concision means cutting or cutting off. And the reference there is to circumcision. He talks about that in the next verse. He’s talking about the Jews. Of course if you’ve read the book of Acts, you know that the biggest enemy of the New Testament Church in the first century were the Jews. It was the Jews. The Bible tells us “who put Jesus to death”. It was the Jews who were bringing about persecution against the New Testament Church. It was the Jews that were the biggest enemy of the cause of Christ. And here Paul says beware of the concision.
Verse 3 he says “3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”. Today there is a big fight over what the Bible teaches about the Jews. Are the Jews God’s chosen people? Our position here at Verity Baptist Church is referred to as Replacement Theology. What does that mean? That means that we believe that New Testament Christianity has replaced Israel as God’s people. People will call us uneducated, tell us we need to go to Bible College and study Dispensationalism because we aren’t aware. Well, apparently Paul wasn’t aware either. Notice that Paul says “2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.”. Referring to the Jews. Then he says “3 For we are the circumcision,”. He says don’t beware of the concision. “for we are the circumcision”.
Keep in mind he’s talking to the Church at Philippi which is a city in Greece. He’s talking to a bunch of Gentiles and he says there’s a concision. But he says “we are the circumcision”. That sounds like replacement theology. People will call you anti-Semitic which I think is interesting since we’re preaching against a false religion. But let me tell you that the Bible says that they’re not saved. They’ve rejected the Lord Jesus Christ who is an antichrist. “He is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son”. “28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”. The Bible teaches that what draws us close to God is Jesus Christ. The blessings of Abraham fell upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Here the apostle Paul is talking to Gentile Greeks in Philippi and says “we are the circumcision which worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.”.
In verse 4 Paul starts to talk about what we will be focusing on this morning and there are two sections or two categories. He begins by talking about his old confidence. His old confidence are basically the things that people often pride themselves in. “4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:”. So the apostle Paul says that if anyone can trust in their own life or have confidence in their own ability or performance, he says that he has a pretty good resume. Then he goes on to give his resume. Paul is telling us what he used to have confidence in.
Philippians 2:5 “5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;”. He came from the stock of Israel or the hereditary background and ancestry that people often looked at. Not only does he mention of the stock of Israel but also of the Tribe of Benjamin. That was a special tribe. It was the tribe that gave Israel their first king with King Saul. It’s very likely that Saul of Tarsus was named after King Saul from the Old Testament. Even when the kingdom was taken and David became the leader and it was divided into the Northern and Southern kingdoms, the Tribe of Benjamin went with the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
The Northern Kingdom ended up going into sin. Then the Assyrians came in and ruined their genealogy and intermingled together that group. They became known as the Samaritans. As a result, those tribes were lost. See, people from the Northern Kingdom of Israel at the time of Paul were not able to say which tribe they were a part of because those tribes had been intermingled. But the tribes of Judah and Benjamin had been preserved. So it was a rare thing for Paul to be able to say that he was a Hebrew but also directly say what tribe he was of. Paul took great pride in his heredity but he also took pride in his nobility.
Thirdly from verse 5 he takes pride in his pedigree. He said “circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin”. Then he says this “A Hebrew of the Hebrews”. Paul is stating that not only was he of the stock of Israel and of the Tribe of Benjamin, he also says a Hebrew of the Hebrews. What does that mean? During the Ancient World, there was what would be called a Hellenistic Jew. They were people born into a Greek Culture that were Jewish. If you remember, Paul travels throughout Europe and throughout the Mediterranean. He goes to all these different cities in Gentile lands but there are these groups of Jews. He would often go to the synagogue and try to preach the gospel to the Jews. There were all these Jews that lived in the Greek culture. In Acts 2, the Bible tells us of all of these Hellenistic Jews that came from all over the world to Jerusalem to worship on the day of Pentecost.
See, there were all these Jews that were living as Greeks. They were called Hellenistic Jews and that was the common Jew. They lived in a Greek culture. They spoke Greek. They often were intermarried into Greek ethnicity. They grew up as Greeks and they lived as Greeks and they had accepted the Greek culture. Judaism was a religion that they would travel for and do certain things for but they were Hellenistic Jews. Paul would say that was not me. He said not only was I of the stock of Israel in the first century but he would also say I was a Hebrew of the Hebrews. See, Paul was raised like a Hebrew in a Greek culture. He was not raised like a Greek. Being a descendant of the Jews, he was raised in this religious, Judaistic zealous environment. Paul is proud of his heredity. He was proud of his nobility. He was proud of his pedigree.
But it was more than that. He was also proud of his piety. Notice verse 5 again. He says “5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;”. Piety means the quality of being religious or extremely serious about your religion. Paul says not only was I a Jew of the nation of Israel, of the stock of Israel, not only was I of the tribe of Benjamin, not only was I a Hebrew of the Hebrews, but when it comes to his religion, he was part of the strictest sect. The pharisees were known as the strictest, the most serious, the most into what they believed. And Paul said look, I was the best of the best of the best when it came to my religion. He was proud of his heredity, in his nobility, his pedigree, his piety.
What I want you to notice is that Paul was also proud of his intensity. Look at verse 6. “6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church;…”. He said not only was I pious, I was intense. He was saying that he really believed what he was following. In fact, he had so much zeal that he persecuted the Church. He didn’t just stand back and let the Christian religion take over. He fought against them. He was very proud of persecuting Christianity. He was proud of his heredity, his nobility, his pedigree, his piety, his intensity. But he was also very proud of his morality.
Look at verse 6 again. “6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”. Paul was a moral man. Morality is defined as values and principles of conduct regarding right and wrong. He says I wasn’t a hypocrite. He says as touching righteousness which is of the law blameless. He said you could have followed him and watched his life and you would have never found anything that he did wrong. He was a very moral man and he was proud of his morality. He was proud of his intensity. He was proud of his piety. He was proud of his pedigree. He was proud of his nobility.
Then he makes this very dramatic statement in verse 7. “7 But what things were gain to me,…”. The word “gain” is an accounting term. It means profit or advantage. When you run a business, when you’re doing your accounting and you look at what has come in financially and you subtract what goes out then the leftover is gain. That’s a gain. That’s a profit. That means you’re winning. Paul is stating that if life was a race then he was winning. But then he says this “7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.”. The word loss again in accounting term means detriment, disadvantage, deprivation. It means to go negative. When you have a loss it means that you spent more money than you brought in. You’re not winning. It’s not going well. He says the things that were gain to him were counted as loss for Christ.
He says “8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,”. He is saying that if you have something to show off or brag about, I have more. Paul is saying that he could tell you about his heredity, nobility, pedigree, piety, intensity and morality. If there was anybody that could boast then it would be Paul. But Paul counted those things as dung or as manure or animal poop. Paul is stating that all of the amazing things that the world would look at were basically worthless.
See, Paul begins by talking to us about his old confidence, the things that he took pride in. Paul in the 1st Century is no different than Christians in the 21st Century and no different than Solomon in the Ancient World. Paul gave us 6 things that humans to pride in. Heredity, nobility, pedigree, piety, intensity and morality. Ecclesiastes 2:1 “I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. 2 I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?”. Solomon is telling us about all his successes, all the things he put his confidence in, all the things that brought pride to him, all the things that he would boast and brag about.
Notice verse 3. He brags not only about the pleasure and his confidence but then he talks about alcohol in verse 3. “3 I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine,…”. Let me explain something to you. There’s no new thing under the sun. Isn’t this exactly what happens on Facebook today of people boasting and bragging. People today brag about how great their life is with alcohol. Paul grew up with a very strict life and he was winning in his realm of life that had to do with nobility and piety and morality. Solomon was a politician. He tells us what success looked like in his life. Success was pleasure. It was alcohol. In his heart he sought after wine. “3 I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.”.
Notice what Solomon gave himself to according to verse 4. “4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: 5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: 6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: 7 I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:”. Solomon explained that he had a lot of nice things and great possession. The same things that people chase after today. People think these things will bring them happiness.
Then in verse 8, Solomon says “8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.”. And look, none of these things in and of themselves except for alcohol are bad. Alcohol is bad all the time, period. No matter how much you drink of it, it’s bad. But you know there’s nothing wrong with having a good time from time to time. There’s nothing wrong with having nice possessions. If God blesses you with that, there’s nothing wrong with that. Money is not bad but the love of money is bad. The love of money is the root of all evil. But there’s nothing wrong with having a little bit of entertainment from time to time.
Verse 9 “9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.”. Solomon had all the things the world would call gain. Paul said the same thing. Paul and Solomon’s lists look different because they are from 2 different cultures but they both lived lives that people would consider successful. Paul said if anybody had something to be confident about then it was him. Then he gives a list of things he put his pride or confidence in.
First of all we see Paul’s old confidence. Secondly this morning we see Paul’s new computation. Computation means to compute, to count, to calculate. This is the emphasis that Paul gives us. Verse 8 “8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,”. See, Paul said that he learned to count, compute, do calculations. What he’s saying is that he used to have a pride but now has a new perspective. Paul used to think that education could make him happy but he learned a new computation. Paul found a new way to measure success.
I want you to notice that this is probably the most important phrase in this passage. In verse 8 he says “that I may win Christ,”. What is the goal? The goal is God. The goal is to press toward that mark of Christ Jesus. He explains that he learned to count in a different way. He got new calculations. He thought he was winning but realized that he was losing. In order to win Christ, Paul counted those things as dung. Then Paul begins to tell us the things that he gained in Christ. What did he gain?
The first thing he mentions is the righteousness of Christ. We would call that salvation. Look at verse 9. “9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:”. If you’re saved here today, it’s because you have put on the righteousness of Christ and you will stand before God one day in his righteousness and not your own. Keep in mind, he just got done talking about how he was blameless by the law. That is pretty good. He was a very religious individual. But now he talks about having the righteousness of Christ and not his own righteousness. How do you get it? By faith. Just yesterday my wife and Ms. Ariel were out soulwinning and trying to give the gospel to this arrogant lady. And she’s arguing with them about salvation and saying that you have to live a good life. She was arguing to the point where my wife and Ms. Ariel had to walk away. When the walked away, this lady is now preaching to her 1-year-old and telling them why they need to be good to go to heaven. It’s like, this is a baby going goo goo ga ga.
How do you know your religion is the right religion out of all the religions? Well here’s the thing. There are really only two religions. Every other religion teaches the same thing – you have to live a good life or earn your way to heaven in some way or another. Paul said that he found something new. He said “9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:”.
Let us understand something. Paul lost something in order to gain something. Paul understood that he couldn’t keep his old religion and Jesus. We can’t keep trusting in the righteousness of the law and have the righteousness of Christ. Paul said, “6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”. He said look, if it’s free then you can’t earn it. If it’s a gift then you can’t pay for it. You can’t have it both ways. Paul says that he counted all his works as loss in order to gain the righteousness of Christ.
The world is chasing all of the same things that Paul and Solomon mentioned. The whole world has always been chasing pleasure, comfort, status, money, success, fame. They’ve all been chasing the same thing. Matthew 16:26 “26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”. Paul explained that in his culture or circle that he ran with, he was a rock star. He was a superstar. It didn’t get any bigger than Paul. But he gave up all in order to win Christ.
Now when it comes to salvation, do we have to give something up to be saved? You don’t have to give anything up to be saved but you do have to give up your trust in your own works. If you’re going to be saved, you do have to give up your trust in your own religion. If you’re going to be saved, you do have to repent of unbelief. If you’re going to be saved, Paul said that he had to give up his trust in all of those things. So Paul describes having the righteousness of Christ.
Philippians 3:10 “10 That I may know him,…”. Paul is saying that there is a new goal in his life. It’s a goal of sanctification. His purpose is to win Christ. God is now his goal. Not possessions, money, nice things, fame, etc…He says “10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;”. I think every Christian would say that they want to have fellowship with Christ and get to know him. Well here is the thing, having fellowship with Christ comes at a price. See, fellowship comes through suffering. Did you know that suffering makes your relationship with God deeper and full? In fact, suffering makes your relationship with anybody deeper and full. Ask a war veteran that came back from active warfare where he was with a group of guys and they fought together and survived together. They saw their friends die. There is something about suffering that binds people together. In the military they call them a band of brothers. And here Paul says that he wanted to know Christ. But when he got to know Christ, he got to know him through suffering. Suffering allows us to have a deeper and fuller relationship.
The truth of the matter is this. The trouble-free life is a shallow life. The comfortable life, the convenient life…I’m not trying to offend you but let me just help you out a little bit. Convenience is ruining you. Comfort and ease is probably one of the worst things that you can provide for your children. You’re destroying them. The trouble-free life is a shallow life. Paul said that he wanted to know Christ so he got to know him through suffering and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death. Isn’t it true that we never pray harder than when we are in real trouble? When things aren’t going well, that’s when we really get to know God.
Go to Ecclesiastes 7:2. Remember Solomon who had everything? Notice what he says in Ecclesiastes 7:2 “2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.”. Solomon says that if you have to choose one, it is better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting. When you mourn, you think more about your life and the impact of your life than when you go to a party. That’s what he’s saying. At funerals we all contemplate our death. At weddings we don’t. He said it is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting for that is the end of all man and the living will lay it to his heart. Verse 3 “ 3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.”. See, suffering makes our relationship with God and anyone else that we suffer with deeper and fuller. You know what? Convenience makes you shallow and empty.
Go back to Chapter 2. Verses 1-3 possessions, verses 4-7 money, verse 8 entertaining, etc…How did this end for Solomon? Ecclesiastes 2:17 “17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”. You would think that Solomon having everything that he wanted would make him the happiest guy on earth. But actually he said that he hated life. Everything was vanity and vexation of spirit. And if you don’t believe Solomon, just ask the most famous rock stars and movie stars that kill themselves through drugs and alcohol. If they’re so happy then why are they ruining their lives. See, fellowship is heightened through suffering. Paul gave up those things in life he was trusting in order to gain the righteousness of Christ.
Philippians 3:10 “10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;”. Paul is telling us that we need to realize life is more than this life. There’s another life. There’s an afterlife. Verse 11 “11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”. See, remember Paul told us that he learned to count, got a new calculator, made new calculations. He realized that he was wasting his life.
Paul uses accounting terms. What did he gain? The righteousness of Christ or salvation. Fellowship with Christ. Sanctification. Glorification. Romans 8:17 “17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”. Paul talks about the inheritance that we can earn in heaven. But the key is that if we suffer with him. “18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”. Here’s what he says. Worldly people value the things of this world and not the things of the next world. God’s people should value the things of the next world and count the things of this world loss or of no value. Ask yourself, are you living for this life or the next life? Are you living to gain in this world or the next world?
Colossians 3:1 ” If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”. If you’re saved, you should set your affection on the things above. Paul said that he began to count different, began to see things differently. In Philippians 3 8 he said he found a new measurement for success. Paul said that he may win Christ.
Colossians 3:3 “3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”. Let me ask you, what is your goal? Even in religious circles like Paul, you could make the religion your goal. Paul talked about his heredity, nobility, pedigree, piety, morality, intensity. Even in a Church like this, people could make soul winning the goal. And look, I’m all for soulwinning and if you don’t go you aren’t right with God. But soulwinning is not the goal. Bible reading is not the goal. I’m all for Bible reading and I think we should all get off of social media and read the Bible. But Bible reading is not the goal. What about Church attendance? We should come to Church Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. We shouldn’t despise prophesying. We should be faithful to the house of God but that isn’t the goal.
So what is the goal? The goal is God. The goal is to know God and to love God and to fellowship with God and to be close to God. And here’s what I know. When God is the goal, you will go soulwinning, you will read the Bible, you will tithe, you will go to Church, you’ll live for God. Paul said that he was chasing the wrong thing. Then he realized one day what success was. He wanted to win Christ. He learned to count those things as loss. In fact he says he counted them as dung in order to win Christ. I hope the same can be said of you and me.
Let’s pray.